by Rosanne Bane
Your Success Story
By now you’ve probably realized that resistance isn’t something you get to solve once and then check off your list and never have to think about again. Resistance is and will be your constant companion. When you have days with little or no resistance, revel in them. But don’t be surprised or disappointed when resistance returns. Learn to see resistance as a sign that you are challenging yourself to continue to grow as a writer and a person by venturing into unknown territory.
As you strengthen your habits around Process and Product Time and practice consistent Self-care, the intensity of your resistance will decrease and your capacity to move through it will increase. As you create your own writing rituals/routines and develop ways to record and reward your efforts, you’ll find that resistance is less and less of an obstacle and more a minor, pesky fact of writing life. Moving past resistance into the flow of your writing will take just a little extra energy, like the kickoff it takes to go from standing still to riding a bike or from treading water to swimming. You won’t mistake it for a sign that you should go away for a while or give up altogether.
Now that you understand what’s happening in your brain, you can stop engaging in self-defeating behaviors like berating yourself or assuming you lack willpower or some other magical “something” that “successful writers” have and you don’t. The writers whose success stories have appeared throughout this book achieved their success not because they were more talented, more disciplined or luckier than you. They had two things that, up until now, you haven’t had: information about what writing resistance really is, and hundreds, even thousands of hours of experience. They applied their focus, energy and intention to consistently use the information in this book to create sustainable habits that led them around the writer’s block and into the writing life they wanted. You can have that too, if you put in the time and attention.
And that’s what really matters: continuing to show up and invest your time, attention and effort into your writing, no matter how big or small your resistance is on any given day.
INSIDE THE WRITER’S BRAIN: NO SHORTCUTS TO MASTERY
Chess masters see problems differently than novice players because masters actually look at the board differently. Research at the University of Tübingen, Germany, comparing differences in how experts and novices process information, shows that novices look at each piece individually, while experts direct their gaze at the center of a field composed of several pieces. Masters see the whole board (or section of the board) as a whole, a gestalt.1
Furthermore, functional MRI scans show that novice chess players use only certain areas (lateralized areas along the ventral and dorsal visual streams) in their brain’s left hemisphere to identify chess pieces and the relationships between them. Chess experts, on the other hand, use both the left lateral areas and the corresponding areas in their right hemisphere as well.
The scans show no difference in how novices and experts identify geometric shapes, which indicates that chess experts are not innately blessed with better object-identification skills. They didn’t start with a brain that processes information about chess pieces differently; they acquired those skills through practice. Lots and lots of practice. As Merim Bilalic, cognitive psychologist at the University of Tübingen and lead researcher in the study, observes, “There are no shortcuts to expertise.”2
Based on these findings, Bilalic and his fellow researchers conclude that experts are not merely more efficient in how they process information (in their area of expertise), but that they use “qualitatively different cognitive processes which engage additional brain areas.” They also conclude that this is probably a characteristic of all experts, not just chess masters.3
Although no one has researched neurological differences between expert writers and novice writers, I think it’s safe to assume something similar goes on in our brains. In all probability, our ability to see a writing problem more holistically and solve it more creatively increases with the hours we log in Product Time. Our ability to recognize resistance for what it is and effectively resolve it also improves as we invest more time in our writing.
Another study comparing novice and expert players of shogi (a Japanese game similar to chess) showed that expert players activate areas in their brains that beginners never do and that intermediate players use only when they are familiar with the patterns involved. The experts engage their precuneus, where perception and high-level thinking occurs, and the caudate nucleus, an area of the brain involved with goal-directed behavior and forming habits.4 The researchers were a little surprised by that, but I’m not. It’s all about habits.
Habit Begets Mastery
The only way to achieve mastery in your writing is to practice. You have to show up and keep showing up day after day, no matter what.
In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell cites examples from music, sports, science and business to define 10,000 hours as the amount of time we must invest to achieve mastery in any complex skill. If that seems daunting, consider that Daniel Pink defines mastery as a level of achievement we can get very close to, but never achieve completely.5 In other words, no one ever gets completely there anyway, so don’t worry about how far you have to go. Besides, no one knows exactly when the brain shifts to the more holistic and efficient expert mode.
The key is to know you’re in this for the long haul. Writing is not easy. There are times when the words just flow and you get caught up in the joy of creating, but those times don’t come without investing a lot of time in research, incubation, brainstorming and hours and hours of practice.
No matter how old or young you are, no matter whether you have an MFA or not, no matter how much or how little you’ve published, no matter how many or how few hours you can tally toward your mastery level as a writer, you need to keep practicing and developing your craft. You cannot expect immediate expertise or immediate success, but don’t assume you have to log your ten thousandth hour before you’re good enough to share your writing.
You can get pretty good at something in a few thousand hours. Writers can include at least some of the thousands of hours we’ve spent reading. The human brain is designed to acquire spoken language; no one has to teach a toddler the syntax rules or vocabulary words of the day. This tendency to unconsciously absorb language use is at play when we read. People who read a lot tend to be better writers, and those who read diversely tend to be more versatile as writers.
WRITER’S APPLICATION: 10,000 HOURS A QUARTER HOUR AT A TIME
Just as Lao-tzu said that “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” your 10,000 hours to writing mastery began with your first sentence and it continues one quarter-hour at a time in your Fifteen Magic Minutes sessions.
Not every word you write matters, but the fact that you write every day does. David Bayles and Ted Orland point out in Art & Fear, “To you, and you alone, what matters is the process. . . . Your job is to learn to work on your work. . . . The function of the overwhelming majority of your artwork is simply to teach you how to make the small fraction of your artwork that soars.”6 Most of what you produce while you’re pursuing mastery is valuable only because it takes you closer to mastery. Today you shovel dreck, and tomorrow you may well shovel dreck, and the day after that, because that’s the only way to get to the good stuff hidden under all that dreck.
Keep going! Show up for regular Product Time sessions. Don’t take your commitment past the Fifteen Magic Minutes limit, but start gradually stretching your capacity for longer target times so you can log more hours toward writing mastery. At first, an hour will feel like a long time, but as you grow, you’ll be able to work for three or four hours, then five, then six. If you experience resistance to your expanding target times, think of it as an added bonus: not only are you developing writing mastery, you’re logging time toward mastery in resolving resistance, too.
INSIDE THE WRITER’S BRAIN: DUELING NEURONS
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The neurons you use for writing can and will be recruited for some other task if you don’t keep them steadily employed. One reason it’s vital to keep showing up for Product Time even when you aren’t sure what to do is to make sure “competitive plasticity” is working for your writing, not against it.
In The Brain That Changes Itself, Doidge defines competitive plasticity as “an endless war of nerves going on inside each of our brains. If we stop exercising our mental skills, we do not just forget them: the brain map space for those skills is turned over to the skills we practice instead. If you ever ask yourself, ‘How often must I practice French, or guitar, or math to keep on top of it?’ you are asking a question about competitive plasticity.”7
Achieving mastery may be a matter of allowing the skill being mastered to dominate a large brain map space. Mastery takes so long to acquire because it isn’t just practicing physical skills or rote facts, which would involve a smaller brain map; it’s deep understanding of the concepts, principles, background and history of the field, which requires a lot more neural territory.
Teaching Story: Feed the Right Wolf
Continuing to show up for your writing day after day matters not only because it brings you closer to mastery, it matters because honoring your commitments is the way you “feed the right wolf.”
The Cherokee tell a story of a young man who was struggling with anger and aggression. An elder spoke to the young man, telling him his anger was understandable because each of us has two wolves inside us: a good, loving wolf and an evil, hateful wolf. The good wolf is loyal, brave, lives in harmony, provides for the pack, strives for justice and will fight only when it is the right thing to do. The evil wolf has no loyalty, acts without consideration for others, perpetrates injustice and attacks because it finds violent joy in anger, destruction and despair. The evil wolf attacks the good wolf all the time. But the two wolves are fairly well matched and neither can get rid of the other completely.
“So which wolf will win in the end?” the young man asked.
“The one you feed the most.”
WRITER’S APPLICATION: MUZZLE THE SABOTEUR
We all carry two wolves—the Saboteur is another name for the evil wolf—and every action we take feeds one wolf or the other. Sometimes what you do (or don’t do) fuels the evil wolf’s attack on yourself; sometimes it fuels the evil wolf’s attack on others. Usually, it’s a small thing: You skip doing Process or Product Time for a day or two and somehow your habit gets sporadic. Or you lose touch with Self-care and eat a sweet roll at work or miss a workout because you’re so busy. Or you stay up too late and, because you’re cranky the next day, you swear at another driver, sending negative energy her/his way and wishing that person harm.
You also do little things that feed the good wolf. Every time you show up for Process, Self-care and Product Time, you feed the good wolf (and strengthen those neural pathways). Every time you grab a healthy snack or walk a flight of stairs instead of taking the elevator, you feed the good wolf. When you’re in a good mood and give yourself enough time so you’re not rushed and give another driver a break, you feed the good wolf. When the good wolf is strong, you honor your promises and do what you know is right.
It may seem that the situation determines which wolf will get more energy and attention. But that’s a dangerous assumption that gives the Saboteur wolf an edge. Because every time you feed one wolf, you make it stronger. You make it more likely that you’ll feed that wolf again.
The smallest morsel fuels the Saboteur and keeps it going for a long time. The evil wolf will steal food meant for the good wolf if it gets a chance, and it gets a chance anytime you’re not crystal clear about your intention and fail to follow through on that intention with integrity.
If you let the Saboteur wolf push you away from your writing, it will not be satisfied and go away. It will demand to be fed again and again. Eventually it will push you away from something else you love. When you practice your habits with integrity, you refuse to feed the Saboteur wolf. This strengthens your ability not only to show up as a writer, but to show up as a human being and be of service and enjoy life.
INSIDE THE WRITER’S BRAIN: COMPETITIVE PLASTICITY IS THE SABOTEUR’S WORKSHOP
The Brain That Changes Itself offers insight into why the Saboteur has such a voracious metabolism: “Competitive plasticity also explains why our bad habits are so difficult to break or ‘unlearn.’ . . . [W]hen we learn a bad habit, it takes over a brain map, and each time we repeat it, it claims more control of that map and prevents the use of that space for ‘good’ habits. That is why ‘unlearning’ is often a lot harder than learning, and why early childhood education is so important—it’s best to get it right early, before the ‘bad habit’ gets a competitive advantage.”8
The more we allow the Saboteur to determine what action we take, the more control it has over a brain map and the harder it is to practice a good habit that feeds the right wolf. The Saboteur is an outrageous squatter that moves into brain map spaces when the good wolf is on vacation and then refuses to leave. When it comes to the Saboteur’s ability to use competitive plasticity against you, possession is ten-tenths of the law.
CHALLENGE: WHY WRITE?
Feeding the right wolf and refusing to let the Saboteur push you around is one significant reason to write. But not everyone has to be a writer; there are plenty of ways to bring your creativity into the world. So why do you write? Why do other writers write? What’s the point? (These are questions the Saboteur would love to keep rhetorical because they become so powerfully positive when you ask them as genuine questions.)
Freewrite for ten minutes answering the question, “Why write?” List all the reasons you and other writers spend time crafting words.
Then freewrite for another ten minutes listing all the people who benefit and how they benefit from what you have written or will write (your writing product) and from the fact that you write (your writing process).
You Owe It to Them; You Owe It to Yourself
If you decide writing is not for you, that the effort is not worth the benefits you and others receive from your writing, you can choose to hang up your writer’s hat at any time without guilt or recrimination. Writing is not the only way to express your creativity. You may be writing only because you need to complete a specific project, like a thesis or dissertation. If you don’t see yourself as a lifelong writer, in all likelihood you’ll turn your energy and attention to the creative outlet that is your life’s work when that required writing project is complete. I think you’ll find that the three practices of Process, Self-care and Product Time and the tools in this book can be adapted and applied to your next endeavors.
But if you do see yourself as a writer, if you are willing to put in the effort to earn the benefits, you have the right and the responsibility to write. You owe it to yourself and everyone else on your list of people who benefit to show up for your writing. You and they deserve all the benefits your writing can bring. Remember that the next time you feel “selfish” about “taking time away” from your family, friends or community to write.
Pay It Forward
Think about all the writers and all the books, poems, essays, articles, song lyrics and so on that changed your life. Write or make a mental list of a few of the authors and manuscripts that influenced you. Then imagine how your life would have been smaller, poorer, less enlightened and joyful if those writers had decided their writing didn’t matter. What if they had given up? What if they decided they weren’t up to the task of putting in all those hours to achieve mastery?
Your struggles are not unique. Another writer has had every doubt, every distraction, every thought of “my little contribution won’t matter” that you’ve had. Every writer faces resistance, endures rejection and indifference, and struggles with the confusion and frustration of the glimmering idea that they can’t quite capture. Stanley Kun
itz wrote, “The poem in the head is always perfect. Resistance begins when you try to convert it into language.”9 Kunitz didn’t write that just for you; he wrote to all artists. You are not alone in the struggle, but if you give up trying, you will be alone with the unspoken beauty and meaning you could have shared with the world.
What is unique about you is your perspective, your voice and your vision. No one else has traveled through time and space on the same route you’ve taken, and no one else will combine bits and pieces of your experiences and intuition into a new, cohesive whole the way you will. If you don’t tell the stories you have to tell (in fiction or nonfiction or poetry or song or whatever genre you work in), they will never be told.
Writers give people they don’t know—people who might not even be alive when they’re writing—a tremendous gift. The writers on your list, and countless others who inspired those writers, gave you a gift. If you’ve been given the desire to write, you have an obligation to pay it forward by making time for your writing and making the effort to become the best writer you can be.
Success Story: Love Matters
Aspiring novelist Kate L. had been hearing the call to write for years without knowing how to pay it forward. “I was the kid who made up stories in the confessional, wrote fake book reports and fake letters to Dear Abby. But I didn’t know how to start. I used to literally poke holes in my notebook as a way of saying, ‘Hey! I’m here. Anybody home?’ I didn’t know what to do with my need to tell stories, so it went underground.” When Kate read the description for a writing class, she realized, “This is it!”
“It took me a looong time to connect the dots, forgive and trust myself, and admit that I want nothing less than an authentic life from here on out. I finally understand the mystic’s advice to find what you love and do it.”